Players group mum on online poker recommendation

LAS VEGAS 
An organization of card players pushing for full legalization of Internet poker is staying away from recommending whether Americans should gamble online after indictments of executives at three of the world's top online poker companies.

Executive Director John Pappas of the Poker Players Alliance said Tuesday that some players are hesitant about depositing money with online poker operators, especially those that had funds with PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker.

Those sites were effectively shut down to the U.S. last month when authorities unsealed the indictments and seized bank accounts and domain names.

Pappas says the alliance is making no recommendation to players except to be cautious of the risks involved with playing poker online. Pappas says the alliance thinks new laws should take away unnecessary risks to players.